Why are firearms questions not allowed?

Nov 28, 2012 4:31 PM

Why are firearms questions not allowed? Just policy or the "guns taboo"? Is this a restricted firearms question? I thought that more free knowledge, especially for firearms owners, is a good thing? Sorry if just asking this question is against policy, please don't suspend me if it is, I am not trying to stir up trouble.

Top Answers

If it's not allowed as a deal, it's not allowed as a question. So, since we don't allow deals for guns, rifles, ammo, etc., there are no questions about them. If you think about it, discussion about guns often leads to links to them and we don't want that on Deals.

The question mentioned above was for a cleaning kit. We do allow fire arm accessories, so that's a legitimate question.

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I was just about to ask the same thing. For those of you who missed it, there was a light discussion going about 15 minutes ago regarding advice in purchasing firearms. There were no deals posted for firearms (that I saw anyway.) I know from last year's question that gun deals aren't allowed. So are gun questions included in that rule as well?

EDIT I just saw that @studerc mentioned that some links were posted within the question, that is probably why, allowing it to fall under the "no gun deals" category.

I feel that the focus of the last question (recently deleted) was actually on where to look for good deals and specs and information regarding proper maintenance and gun safety instead of actual gun deals. Pretty sure that there were only a couple of comments posted, none of which actually involved links to gun deals. They were instead more generalizations regarding gun purchases. Essentially I just gave up on the process of arguing and figuring things out regarding the mods. So inconsistent and annoying to say the least.

@philosopherott: I assume this was coming from the Pistol question I asked earlier and it was removed. I figured I would just let it go, but I was curious as well. The two Wootizens that were able to reply before it was tossed were a great help (@studerc & @eraten) so thanks for the replies. But I was looking forward to getting some additional information.

I know I saw a message from @Jumbowoot the Cockatrice overlord, maybe he would help us out. Again I am not trying to stir up trouble I just want to know what can and can't be discussed because I don't want to get banned over something that seems innocent to me (like that last question).

@coondogg97: I saw your post after I submitted mine. I had answers on your Question to and it all seemed ok to me. As a Texas based company I would think that kind of questioning is normal but you never know what I did not see

This is something that's been going on for a quite awhile "behind the scenes.." you'd be surprised at how many times legitimate questions with no firearm links, or any other taboo material have been deleted because they are not to the taste of one particular person.

The short answer is: There are one or two mods that are anti-gun.. it really is just that simple.
With that said there are also mods that are just trying to play by the rules, and some firearm-related comments really do break the rules and are worthy of deletion.
(and just to clarify this isn't just a theory I put together myself lol)

And don't get me wrong, I love Woot mods but this is something that should be addressed..

Like you I'm not trying to stir up trouble which is why I've never posted this question myself - I'm actually kind of hesitant to post this comment lol

According to a post made @jumbowoot, who made this comment in a similar firearms thread recently: "There are other places to discuss firearms.." (and then that thread disappeared, much like the earlier one today)

While we realize this may be an unpopular stance with some folks, this happens to be the policy on this particular topic and hope you all understand.

Moderation suggests highly sensitive topics like guns, religion and politics do not belong on an online shopping site's discussion. Do you want people Googling gun topics leading them over to deals.woot to chime in?

Don't blame it on someone's personal beliefs or opinions as a matter of enforcement. Why don't people have the ability to moderate themselves and understand that some topics just don't belong here. If you want to talk about it, start your own website

@75grandville: And that is the only reason I even posted the question here. I figured with all the scopes and holster's (one was posted this week) I have seen posted I figured a question would be fine and this would be the community that would have some good advice.

@drchops: Yeah, I wasn't really perturbed until I read this post. The gun question is what it is, but the rules should apply across the board. Having a couple of rogue mod's is not good and will do a lot more damage then good in the long run.

@inkycatz: Thanks for clarifying. Again, I have no problem with that answer and absolutely respect it. As long as all the mods are on the same page and the rules don't change on a moderators vacation day I understand the rules.

@inkycatz: I understand the "there are other places to discuss [insert taboo topic here]" thing, but what if I wanted to know what @lotsofgoats, @capguncowboy, or @coondogg97 thinks of a particular [taboo] item or deal? I would already trust these opinions over some random person because of the interaction here. How would you even find out about a new [taboo topic] chat site if it can't even be mentioned? There are no PM options on the DW side, so PMing someone is kludgy at best.

@ryanwb: You don't think that DW draws people in just to talk about poop stories?

@lotsofgoats: I didn't say it is, I'm just saying that smart moderators know what are hot topic items and which are not. This is a deals website and their primary motivation is to get people to this site to buy something, not to discuss politics, guns, etc.... If they are not consistent in the enforcement of this, that's on them which spurs topics such as this to be posted

If it's not allowed as a deal, it's not allowed as a question. So, since we don't allow deals for guns, rifles, ammo, etc., there are no questions about them. If you think about it, discussion about guns often leads to links to them and we don't want that on Deals.

The question mentioned above was for a cleaning kit. We do allow fire arm accessories, so that's a legitimate question.

@rogertheriault: correct. unless you find a pg part of that site to land on that has a great deal on a "neck massager." While we have a bit more leeway over here - the fact is that the site tries to be kid-friendly - in the sense that, if your kid lands here looking for a sale on a game, s/he won't be inundated with adult content.

Like everything else here no one really knows what's allowed. Sometimes questions/deals slip by the mods for a while. Sometimes questions & deals are deleted, and the author never finds out why that happened. Questions relating to 'why' are often deleted, too.

If there was any semblence of consistency, we'd all have a better understanding of why certain things are deleted. Mods (thank you for your input) generally say (paraphrasing), I'm not sure, but... Therein lies the problem. No one is sure. Official rulings are sporadic.

And, people themselves must search for a specific quote. Or rely upon another member to provide a link that has, perhaps, a vague answer. Not a RULE, per se. Just an answer.

The UNOFFICIAL FAQs are a source of info. Unfortunately, they're still unofficial. After 6+ months.

@thunderthighs: That makes sense to a certain extent, but on the back of that you have to remember over on Sports.Woot there are constantly deals for gun cases, shooting targets, gun cabinets, rifle optics, (and even guns themselves.. Air Guns, but guns nonetheless) etc.. so you can see why it's a little bit confusing :)

And again, I love you guys and completely respect whatever Woot's stance is whether I agree with it or not.. I just think a lot of people feel like they're getting mixed messages.

(And thanks for the response - I know you guys are kind of stuck in the middle just trying to do your jobs so it's appreciated when you stick your neck out to personally respond, you too @inkycatz)

Moderating based on a whim is lazy. If you don't want people to post about certain topics, it's pretty easy to post that sort of things as a policy. When things disappear based on undocumented "whims" and subjective opinion, it's censorship, not moderation.

Since the Woot sites are all about money why not create a non-linkable, seperate 'gun.woot' site? Have the moderators staffed by people who want to discuss the legal purchase of guns and accesories? It's not like it's too hard.

Personal opinions aside...it's a legal to purchase material item. We're not talking 'weed.woot' or 'crack.woot' are we? Note: for our wooters in Washington you can now legally create a 'weed.woot' :)

If it's 'verbooten' then pull it all...not change day-by-day because of your individual idologies....just saying.

And if you do create a stand alone 'gun.woot' I think you would find there's a good percentage of us, especially in red states, that compete with, hunt with, or just enjoy target shooting. Which, again, is legal...

"Alcohol causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organization warned on Friday." This is straight off Huffington Post (VERY liberal website).

So..Alcohol is ok...but the legal purchase of firearms is not? Yeah, that makes sense.

@jraxter: The idea of a guns.woot has been brought up at least twice by me, maybe more by others (see links below). As there are a few of us that would be interested it seems like there is a spoken majority against it (unfortunately).
I do not think that it is a fact of legally purchased item but more of liability on Woots part .
I do not like the policy but respect @thunderthighs for an answer, and for being a go to MOD here. Also want to thank @inkycatz for being another go to MOD

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